Equality, diversity and human rights
This week's case of the week, provided by DLA Piper, covers equal pay claims.
In Coleman v Attridge Law and another [2008] IRLR 722, the ECJ held that the protection afforded against direct discrimination and harassment on grounds of disability under the Equal Treatment Framework Directive is not limited to those who are themselves disabled.
In London Borough of Lewisham v Malcolm [2008] IRLR 700, the House of Lords held that the comparator for the purposes of disability-related discrimination should be construed narrowly, contrary to the Court of Appeal ruling in Clark v TDG t/a Novacold. It also held that disability discrimination cannot be established unless the alleged discriminator knew that the complainant was disabled.
In Loxley v BAE Systems Land Systems (Munitions & Ordnance) Ltd EAT/0156/08, the EAT held that an employment tribunal must have regard to the disadvantage sustained by an employee in order to determine whether or not the employer's treatment of the employee was a proportionate response to a legitimate aim.
In Allen and others v GMB [2008] IRLR 690, the Court of Appeal held that a trade union indirectly discriminated against a group of its members where its aim was to secure pay protection and future pay for employees, but its means of achieving this aim - persuading women with historic equal pay claims to settle them disadvantageously - were disproportionate.
In Bayode v The Chief Constable of Derbyshire EAT/0499/07, the EAT held that, where alleged less favourable treatment consisted of accurate written records made by colleagues in their personal notebooks about aspects of a black police officer's behaviour that were of concern to them, the employment tribunal was entitled to find on the facts that the officer had no justified sense of grievance about the making of the entries and therefore had not suffered any detriment.
In Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery NHS Trust v Bewley [2008] IRLR 588, the EAT held that the decision in Diocese of Hallam Trustee v Connaughton was fundamentally flawed and should not be followed.
The European Court of Justice has held that an employer's public statement of a discriminatory recruitment policy is direct discrimination contrary to the Race Directive (2000/43/EC).
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that an employee who was dismissed when he brought tribunal proceedings in order to harass his employer, rather than to receive compensation, was not protected by the victimisation provisions of the Race Relations Act 1976.
In Stevenson v JM Skinner & Co EAT/0584/07, the EAT held that an employer complied with its statutory duty to carry out a risk assessment in relation to a pregnant employee when it addressed her concerns at meetings with her and, taking account of all the circumstances, evaluated and agreed the relevant risks.
HR and legal information and guidance relating to equality, diversity and human rights.
Access our main resources on equality, diversity and human rights according to the type of information you need.